Rob's Big Losers 12 Week Journey

My Story

When I was younger I never had a problem with my weight. I was always very small and athletic. I joined a gym with my mom at the age of twelve and worked out religiously. I was able to eat anything I wanted and not gain an ounce and never dreamed I would ever have issues with my weight. It was not until my mid to late twenties that I began gaining weight. I was diagnosed with infertility due to severe endometriosis which led me to eight years full of surgeries, medications and shocking my system in to menopause which also triggered severe migraines and eventually ended with a hysterectomy three days after my 30th birthday and a divorce. All of the surgeries, medications and stress took a toll on my body and metabolism and for the first time in my life I slowly watched myself gain weight. Through all of this pain and heartbreak of not being able to have a baby God was so gracious to bless me with my most awesome daughter through adoption and my husband who already had two young children which he had custody of and made our family complete.

Throughout my thirties my weight would go up and down. I hit my highest weight and decided I must do something to get healthier. I joined weight watchers and lost 68 pounds which I kept off for several years. I became active again riding bikes with my kids and husband and finally felt good about myself again. That is until I started having problems with my knee, ankle and hip which caused me difficulties in being active and resulted in another weight gain I went to several different doctors over a three to four year span that continued to misdiagnose me. Each time I would visit another knee doctor my husband, who is my rock, would ask the doctor if my knee, hip and ankle pain could be caused by my foot turning in. After several doctors and years of being misdiagnosed, we finally found the right doctor that looked at my foot and told me before my husband could even get the question out of his mouth that my complications and pain were not due to my knee at all. I had torn my posterior tibial tendon which would result in what my foot surgeon has explained as the most invasive surgery performed on a foot. This surgery is not only painful but resulted in me being non weight bearing in a cast for 16-18 weeks. While in a cast no weight bearing from the surgery to repair my left foot I tore my right posterior tibial tendon. I informed my foot surgeon that we would not be doing the surgery to correct my right foot until it got to a point I was having complication walking or pain that I could not stand any longer.

After I began to walk on my left foot I decided it was time to loose my weight I had put on over the years we were trying to figure out what was causing me complications and pain in walking. I rejoined weight watchers and lost 54 pounds which I kept off for almost five years. I hit a plateau and decided that just eating right was no longer going to give me the weight loss I desired so my husband and I started getting up at 4:30 every morning and walking two miles in our neighborhood which is filled with steep hills which resulted in us having a great workout. I started toning and was feeling better about myself than I had in a long time. I was within 20 pounds of reaching my weight goal. Again, that is until the walking every day took a toll on my torn tendon which caused me to again have complications in walking. I had no choice except surgery to repair my right foot. As I stated earlier this is a very evasive surgery. They actually cut my heal off and reapply it with screws. The problem is when my heal was reapplied it was crooked. Thank goodness with new technology in surgeries today my recovery time was not quite as long as far as being non weight bearing (about 12 weeks this time) and in a cast but as soon as my cast was removed and I went in to a boot and tried to walk I knew immediately something was not right. Since I couldn’t take another several months off work I had to wait a year before I could have it repaired again. During the recovery time of my first surgery, not being able to walk on a crooked heal very well for a year and recovery on my second surgery I gained 53 of my 54 pounds I had lost. I was devastated yet I’ve tried to remain positive throughout this whole process.

This brings me to my awesome opportunity I have been given. I love HIS Radio. It’s the only station I listen to because I feel, so encouraged by the songs they play, so I’ve watched as Rob and the station have encouraged and helped people just like me get healthier and become more active. I knew the Robs Biggest Loser was taking applications. I received an alert on my His radio app that said it was the deadline if you are interested in applying. It’s crazy but I was driving down the road and it’s almost as if my car pulled over on it’s own. I pulled up the application sitting in my car and realized I would have to tell my story to even be considered. I said OK God, apparently you want me to do this so I need you to give me the words to say. It’s like my story just unfolded on my cell phone right in front of me. I hit send and thought, there’s probably not a chance I’ll even be chosen. To my surprise they called me and said that I had been picked. I was so excited when I got the call but almost immediately the devil tried to steal my joy and make me feel like I couldn’t do this. I know I CAN do this because I know it’s the way God wants me to take care of the temple he has given me to live my life in. I live by Philippians 4:13 For I can do all things through Christ who gives me strength and Jeremiah 29:11 For I know the plans I have for you declares the Lord. I don’t know why I’ve had the mountains that I have had to climb in my life but I do know that God is always here with me to pull me to my mountain top and I become stronger with every obstacle I’ve faced. I can’t wait to see what he has in store for me next through this journey I’m beginning with the great new friends I will now have. Thank you God for loving me, for believing in me and for pushing me to try harder to live my life for what you created me for. Esther 4:14 Perhaps this is the moment for which you were created…I’ve chosen to live this verse like every moment is the moment I was created for….Perhaps this is my moment.